3 Things and a giveaway winner!!

First off, I want to thank all of you (all 12 entries...what the heck) who entered the giveaway for the awesome Auria earphones!  And the winner is:

Rene' from the amherst shuffle

 Congratulations Rene'!!

Email me your mailing address and I will have them sent out asap! You are going to L.O.V.E. them!!

Thanks again to Auria for allowing me to try out their awesome product!

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3 Things

"Help others achieve their dreams and you will achieve yours."
- Les Brown

1.The Rock n Roll Savannah marathon is 15 weeks away. This is full marathon #2 for me. I'm feeling pretty good about my training so far....It's only been 2 weeks. But still.   We have a group of about 20 running. Half of the group that is running came out of the Fleet Feet No Boundaries class I help coach.  I could not be more proud.  When No Boundaries ended, they formed their own little running group and are training for the half together! That is what it is all about folks!! Spreading the love! The love of running. Encouraging each other. Building each other up. And helping others reach their goals.

2. Ultra Fuel: 

How do you carb up before a long run?  I have been experimenting with my pre long run nutrition and I think I found a little gem.....Ultra Fuel by Twin Labs is a powder that you mix in with 16ounces of water and take one to two days before a scheduled long run. For me, cowing down on pastas and breads, and whatever else I can shove into my mouth...just wasn't working.  I would feel heavy and lethargic half way through my long runs.  I tried this the day before my long run last Saturday along with my normal diet and felt better on my long run than I ever have! Seriously, twin labs isn't paying me to say this(though they could in the form of product...hint hint twin labs) ;)  I didn't feel heavy and even when I finished I felt I could keep going and I didn't fall into that post long run haze.

This is what Twin Labs says about Ultra Fuel:

The superior carbohydrate profile contains an advanced blend of 100 grams of high quality carbohydrates in the form of glucose polymers (the ultimate complex carb), plus important carbohydrate and energy metabolizers. Clinical studies show that a balanced ratio of complex and simple carbohydrates, like those found in Ultra Fuel, provides energy and enhances recovery, enabling participants to perform longer and produce greater output.

Now, I got the fruit punch flavor and I will admit I wanted to vomit....it literally tastes like crap.  However, I will eat anything....and I mean anything if I know it's going to benefit me.  I always wanted to do that Fear Factor show where they eat crazy bugs for a million dollars....I could totally do that!  Anyway, maybe next time I'll try the orange flavor but I have a feeling it won't be much different.

I was a little concerned about the calories, it's 400 calories per serving 4 scoops= 1 serving, but I figured it still beats shoveling spaghetti or lasagna into my mouth in the name of "carbo loading".

If you haven't tried it, I recommend it!

3. My kids say some of the craziest things!!  A couple days ago I had a conversation with my 3 year old that went like this:

Maddox: mom do pigs have boobs?

me: yah, I guess they do....mommy pigs have boobs. 

long pause .....

Maddox: momma do you have pig boobs?

WHAT!?

Me: ummm well, I  don't think so, I mean I didn't used to....

Seriously!?

this is probably an accurate description of what I looked like when the boys were little

My life would be so boring with out my boys!

I have something very special to share with you next time.  I will be running for a charity that is very near and dear to my heart....I'll share the details with you soon!

Thanks for stopping by today!!! Leave a comment and let me know what your thoughts are!

Happy Thursday!!

Grace and peace,

10k Race Recap

I'm pretty sure 10k's are not my thing. On Saturday I ran the Jesse Owens Memorial 10k.  My first 10k. My goal time was 50:00.  My actual time 56:16.  Some how I actually placed 3rd in my age group.  The only thing I can figure is that every one else had as bad of a run as I did.
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The race was set to start at  8am and by 7:30am it was already 80 degrees with 90% humidity.  You could see the humidity in the air it was so thick.  I was a little jealous that most of the guys could run without shirts. I wore my black running skirt from Skirt Sports and a pink Nike tank and was sweating before I even started running.
 At 7:45 I did a .5 mile warm up, made a quick potty break and headed to the start line.
I started off strong and logged 8:10 for the first mile, 8:29 for the second mile, at mile 3 I started to feel a little yucky....that's the only word I can use to describe it.  The course was in full sun, my energy started to wane, and my legs started to get heavy.  Mile 3 was 8:47. That is when it turned into a full on mental battle.  I have never wanted to quit a race so bad. Actually, I didn't just want to quit, I wanted to lay down in the fetal position on the side of the road. Mile 4 was 9:10.  Thankfully, my friend Kelly passed me as she passed me I told her that I felt like I had hit a wall. She stayed about 20 paces in front of me for the next two miles and kept checking in with me and encouraging me. Mile 5 was a painful 9:48. A few times I got cold chills and felt like I could pass out if I pushed any harder.  I kept telling myself to suck it up and to quit being such a baby. After all I've run half marathons! I'm a runner for goodness sake!  I do 6 mile runs for fun!
It makes me laugh now to think about it.  I was so frustrated while I was running and the more frustrated I got the worse I ran.  At one point I thought about throwing my Garmin into the woods, like it was Garmin's fault I was sucking so bad.  I think I had a case of Runner's Road Rage. LOL!
Anyway, mile 6 was 9:28. Walking to the finished seemed like a good idea until I saw Jon.  Jon is Kelly's husband and also an Ultra-marathon runner. He finished this same 10k in 36 minutes! At mile marker 6 Jon met me and ran with me to the finish line.  The last .2 was on a high school track. Right before we hit the track Jon said "When you get to the track you turn into a sprinter."   I think I muttered something like "ummhmmff"  It took me 2:26 mins to run .27miles.....not exactly sprinting.
I have never been so happy to cross a finish line so I could stop running.
I guess I thought it would be an easy race.  That was my mistake.  I train for 5ks and I train for half marathons, but I have never trained for a 10k.  I've never learned to pace for a 10k.  In a half marathon by mile 6 I'm getting into my groove, I was never able to get into a groove at this race. 
I can't say that I will never run a 10k again, but if I do, I will be trained up.
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Tomorrow I will again be running a 10k. This one is bound to be more fun....The Rock Your Socks 10k is a virtual 10k or Half Marathon hosted by Racing with Babes.  

This Saturday is the P.C.R.A. 5k.  It is also the No Boundaries 5k graduation run!! YaY!! I'm so proud of all the runners, it is amazing to see how far they have all come.  All 55 runners can finish a 5k in under an hour which is amazing considering it took some of them an hour to finish 2 miles when we started.  I will be running with the group to help them cross the finish line and then I will be running the 1 mile fun run with my boys.

Saturday is also my birthday! I love Birthdays! I will be 32 years wise! Hubby has to work so I will spend the day with my boys and then my girls are taking me to dinner. 

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend! 

Grace and peace,

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"I Can" in an "I Can't" world

"A Can-Do mentality seeks to achieve the end goal in any way possible. A Can't-Do Mentality looks for excuses and smokescreens to block any movement forward because, well, change can be unsettling."

-Some guy named Nick;)

Monday night was the kick-off meeting for the No Boundaries running program at Fleet Feet.  I was so excited because I really feel that this is an awesome program for beginning runners.  I wish I would have known about it when I started running. 

9 of my friends signed up for the program.  My prayer for them has been that God will ignite in them the same love and passion for running that He ignited in me.  Just signing up was a huge step for many of them and I didn't realize until the meeting how intimidated some of them are by the thought of running a 5k or even 1 mile.
What I was really unprepared for was the amount of grumbling and complaining I heard from the participants. It really frustrated me.  One of my friends made a comment that she was suckered into it. She tried to pass it off as a joke, but her face and body language could not hide the fear she was feeling.
Suckered into it?! I actually question myself for a moment. Did I push my friends too hard to participate?  Maybe I want this for them more than they want this for themselves? Trying to be as pleasant as possible I told them that their attitude would determine whether or not they were a success in this program or a failure.

I have always been a "go-getter", so sometimes it's hard for me to understand and empathize with an "I can't" attitude.  There are people on a waiting list for this program who want to make a lifestyle change.  They are ready to play an active role in their life and here are people who have that opportunity and they are grumbling because they might have to get up early one Saturday morning for a training run!

I believe that these people will succeed but they may need a lot more encouragement and prodding than I had initially thought.  They may never love running, but by gosh, they will have the tools they need when I get done with them to succeed at it if they want to.

All week I have really been thinking a lot about how our attitude and words affect our lives.
Your attitude and your words are going to make a HUGE impact on whether you succeed or whether you fail.  Your words are so powerful. The Bible even says "Words kill; words give life; they are either poison or fruit-you choose" Proverbs 18:21
You can kill a dream or a goal with your negative words or you can give life to those dreams and goals with your positive words.

I have always been athletic, so when I started running it was daunting, but I had a confidence that I could do it.  Sometimes I might be a little over confident and try to take on more than I can chew.  My God tells me that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."Phil 4:13, I take that literally.  Even when I feel like I might be drowning in my circumstances I choose to speak words of life.  I believe that our words frame our lives.  I want the frame of my life to be positive. We have all been around people who are negative all the time. What do their words say? "I can't do it, it's too hard, nothing will ever change." They focus on what they can't do, on all the bad things that are happening around them. And nothing ever changes.



Our first training run is this Monday night.  I am going to be armed with a positive attitude and full of encouraging words and compassion for all of the new runners.  Each one of these people had a specific reason why they signed up; whether it was weight loss, to be more active, to look better in a pair of jeans, or to be more social.  I want to help them focus on that so that they can be successful in meeting their goal. I want to help transform their thinking from "I can't" to "I can"!""!


Have you ever had an "I can't" moment?  How did you turn it into an "I can" victory?


If you're new to my blog, welcome! If you're not new, thanks for stopping by!  I love reading your comments and feedback!

Grace and peace,

 

Weekend Recap

February Stats:
Miles Run-73
Lbs lost in 2010-4
March Goal mileage- 100

In like a lion out like a lamb.....I am so excited that March is here!!  Happy March to you!!

First of all I want to thank Zoe at Run, Zoe, Run!. I won her Champion Gear giveaway over the weekend and it totally made my day! If you haven't checked out her blog yet I suggest that you do you won't be disappointed!

Weekend Recap

Busy, Busy, Busy!!
Friday night was my coaches meeting for No Boundaries and I was not disappointed.  There is a couple who will be helping coach, Jon and Kelly.  They host a lot of the local races here and are avid runners. Jon has run several Ultra Marathons and Kelly coaches high school cross country.
They have made "rock star" status in my head, so I was "shy" around them all night....what me shy?...for real I had sooooo many questions I wanted to ask them but I know myself well enough that when I get nervous it is best to keep my mouth shut! One time I told my boss's grown son that he was bow legged.... just in passing conversation...I say very inappropriate things when I'm nervous and then laugh uncontrollably loud.  Thankfully, I will be seeing a lot of them in the next 10 weeks so I will have plenty of opportunity to pick their brains about running.


Saturday from 10am-2pm, I had a seminar at church that rocked my world! Every now and then I have to stir myself up and re-ignite that fire for God. A relationship with God is like any other relationship, if you don't stir it up every now and then it fizzles out and looses it's fire!  The guy who did the seminar David Dixon has been an evangelist for 29yrs and has a fire that is so refreshing to be around.  It just rubs off on you when your around him.  He is real , he loves the Lord, and he does what God says to do regardless of what people think or say.  I am determined to have that boldness that the word of God says I can have in Ephesians 3:12(AMP)".....when we trust in Him, we're free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go...."

The rest of the day Saturday I spent playing with the boys.  Hubby's recliner finally came in and so we used the humongous box that it came in to make a fort. We played in the fort for a few hours, ate some pizza and watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

 

BTW-this is Hubby's new recliner...he has waited 10 years for this!! 

I love when my crazy schedule allows time to just play and be goofy with the boys. They are growing so fast and I don't want to miss anything.  I have some silly boys...especially little prince #3! He has found my "accessories" drawer and is obsessed with it!

 

Little Prince-Accessorized! 

Sunday we have two church services one in the morning and one in the evening. Both services were great.   In between services I managed to get in 5 miles on the treadmill and the Jillian Michael's Trouble Zone workout while the kids napped.

Speaking of nap....I could use one right about now.

***Randomness***

Hubby works for British Petroleum and will be working "turnaround". It happens every year at this time....not sure what it is exactly...just know he will be working Mon-Sat, 5am-6pm. So pretty much we won't see him very much until May. Plus, baseball season just started for Prince #1 & #2.  I am getting ready to kick my schedule into overdrive.  Hubby helps out A LOT and is totally hands on with the boys and around the house, so taking him out of the equation for a couple months is serious.

5 days and counting till I try for a 5k PR. Saturday's "On Your Mark 5k" will officially kick of the race season and I want to bring it in with a bang.  My goal is sub 25min. It will be the first race for my friend Angie and I know she will rock it too!!

Currently, as I am writing this there is a man in my home repairing little Prince #1's room from the water damage. Woot, Woot!!! Love that little guy but can't wait for him to have his room back!

 
What was the most exciting thing you did over the weekend?

If your new to my blog, welcome! If your not new, thanks for stopping by!
I love reading your comments and feedback!

Grace and peace,

I Remember...

Registration for the Fleet Feet, No Boundaries Running program closed today.
I handed out forms to all my friends, neighbors, and all the people that I have been begging to come running with me but always declined.  I expected maybe two to commit.  Last night, I had 9 people turn in their registration!! There are 50 spots available and the other 8 coaches recruited the other 41.  I am so proud!  Some of my friends that registered I had all but given up on as far as running was concerned.  Some of them have never done any type of physical exercise and some have just been too intimidated to run on their own.
My friend's hubby even asked me "am I going to be the biggest one out there?"

That question made me think about how intimidated I had felt before I started running. 
I remember all the fears and insecurities I had.  Running just seemed  so much bigger than me.
I also remember my first runner's high and the euphoric feeling of my body in unity. 
I remember my first 5k and feeling of accomplishment.
I remember the pride I felt when I took first place in age group and how I thought I would never be there.
I am excited to be able to experience this with my friends.  I am excited to share in their joy and their journey.
More than anything I am honored to introduce them to my good friend...running.

What do you remember about your first run?


Grace and peace,

This scripture helped me overcome my fears:
"For God did not give us a spirit of fear but one of power,love, and self-discipline."
2 Timothy 1:7